Success in the Fight Against Weeds

Technicians like farmers at gebana Brasil were very pleased with the first test results of the new weed control: "What we see here exceeds our expectations!" says Marcio Challiol, head of the agricultural department at gebana Brasil. Indeed, the images are convincing: the still young soybean plants are a robust green, the weeds between the rows lie withered on the ground.

This result was brought about by the application of two techniques adapted to local conditions: before sowing the soy, the soil was treated with an electric shock technique. This works directly below the surface on plants of a certain size; animals are not harmed. A major advantage is that the soil does not need to be plowed, because in the hot climate of southern Brazil plowing promotes erosion.

When the soybean seedlings were about 30 days old, the soil was post-treated with the "Capinadeira", which cuts the weeds between the rows right at the ground. With this technique the dead plants also remain lying on the soil.

Since there are no herbicides (chemical-synthetic weed killers) in organic farming, weeding the fields means a lot of work — pure manual labor, no less! Yet in emerging Brazil there are increasingly fewer people willing to take on the hard field work. If organic farming is to survive, alternatives must urgently be developed. gebana Brasil is making an active contribution to this.